Survivor Season 20 Finale: Villains Top Heroes 3-0 for Final Vote

Season 20 of CBS' Survivor brought back familiar castaways for an All-Star cast for "Heroes versus Villains." As I mentioned in my review of the premiere, I was extremely pleased to see last season's Russell returning as a Villain, along with my other favorite-Coach. The "dragon slayer" and the "dragon," as finalist Parvati dubbed Russell during the closing arguments session of Sunday's episode, made this season of Survivor one of my favorites yet.

The final Jury session would bring former cast-mates to deliberate between scheming Russell, manipulative Parvati, and coat-tail-rider Sandra. In the end, three people voted Parvati, leaving six votes for Survivor season 20 winner Sandra; Russell received none, making it easy to question if his even more ruthless approach to this latest game only damaged his chances, since he received two votes last season.

The Villains dominated early on, led to victory in part by the strong alliance between finalists Parvati and Russell, despite the growing agenda on the part of both fellow Villains and Heroes to see the charismatic Parvati voted off. Jerri, who dominated in her original season thanks to bold plays and an aggressive approach, altered her game for season 20 by choosing the quiet, swing-vote method. Sandra quickly allied herself with Boston Rob, a strong player with a similar demeanor to power-player Russell; the two alpha-male personalities quickly clashed, dividing the Villains tribe down the center.

At the merge, the Villains decided to pick-off each other instead of eliminating the Heroes, a move which enabled both Colby and Rupert to survive in the game until the 6^th and 7^th slots. A bold move by J.T. prior to the merge gave the Villains a distinct advantage: believing Russell to be a victim of a "female alliance," J.T. arranged to hand-over the communal hidden immunity idol to Russell after the Heroes won a difficult challenge, along with instructions that he should save himself and get rid of Parvati. J.T. paid for his generosity by being the first Hero elimination post-merge.

In a final severing of trust, Russell voted with Sandra and Parvati to send Jerri to the Jury, thinking that Sandra-who did very poorly in challenges all season-would be no challenge for the title of "Sole Survivor."

Season 20 marks Sandra's second Survivor win.

Sources:
CBS, "Survivor"